Rayagada District & Sessions court today awarded 10 years imprisonment to hardcore Maoist Gameli Chinna Rao alias Santu, a militant behind 2012 abduction of former Odisha MLA Jhina Hikaka. Along with jail sentence, the court also slapped him with fine amount of Rs 50,000. Rayagada District judge Biswajit Dash pronounced the sentence on basis of witnesses and other evidences. He also sentenced the active Maoist cadre to seven years in jail and Rs 20,000 fine on charges of keeping explosive items. Santu was arrested from Phulakana forest in 2013 on Koraput-Rayagada border for his involvement in unlawful activities. He was behind abduction of Koraput MP and former Laxmipur MLA Jhina Hikaka in 2012. Rayagada police had seized arms, ammunition, explosive materials and materials of Maoist use from his possession. Apart from these, cash worth of Rs 64,630, computer memory cards, batteries and a fake voter identity card were also recovered from him. He was the most wanted Maoist by both Odisha and Andhra police for his involvement in unlawful activities including murder and several other acts of Maoist menace. The 35-year-old active Maoist cadre was chargesheeted by National Investigation Agency (NIA) under section 121 / 121(A)/ 122 / 147/ 148 /149/326/ 307/ 302/124 (A)/ 324/ 395 of IPC, section 25 and 27 of Arms Act, Section 3, 4 & 5 of Explosive Substances Act and sec 17 of Cr. Law Amendment Act. The Odisha Sun Times Bureau : 18th. May,17